clinging vine

clinging vine

A person, typically a woman, whose relationship with someone or others is characterized by emotional overdependence and/or helplessness. I was at first attracted to her intrepid sense of adventure, but when we began dating, it became obvious she was a bit of a clinging vine emotionally.

clinging vine

An overly dependent person, as in A clinging vine since her marriage, she's never made a decision on her own. Nearly always applied to a woman (or wife), this metaphor for a climbing plant today criticizes dependency rather than, as in former times, praising the vine's fruitfulness.

41) While Alte behaved as a clinging vine, supporting her husband through her frugality and wifely skills at home and reassuring him that he could farm successfully, he did not appreciate her efforts because she did not manifest the dependence and acquiescence that he expected of her.

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